The Project Gutenberg eBook ofDavid: A Tragedy

The Project Gutenberg eBook ofDavid: A TragedyThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: David: A TragedyAuthor: Cale Young RiceRelease date: February 3, 2015 [eBook #48143]Most recently updated: October 24, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: E-text prepared by David Garcia and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Kentuckiana Digital Library (http://kdl.kyvl.org)*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAVID: A TRAGEDY ***

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: David: A TragedyAuthor: Cale Young RiceRelease date: February 3, 2015 [eBook #48143]Most recently updated: October 24, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: E-text prepared by David Garcia and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Kentuckiana Digital Library (http://kdl.kyvl.org)

Title: David: A Tragedy

Author: Cale Young Rice

Release date: February 3, 2015 [eBook #48143]Most recently updated: October 24, 2024

Language: English

Credits: E-text prepared by David Garcia and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Kentuckiana Digital Library (http://kdl.kyvl.org)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAVID: A TRAGEDY ***

The Project Gutenberg eBook, David, by Cale Young Rice

BYCALE YOUNG RICE

BY THE SAME AUTHORCharles Di Tocca

DAVID;A TRAGEDYBYCALE YOUNG RICE

Anchor

NEW YORKMCCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO.MCMIV

Two hundred and fifty copies of this book have beenprinted at the McClure Press, of whichthis is No. __________

Published May, 1904. N.

AFFECTIONATELYTO MY BROTHERLACY L. RICE

A Chorus of Women. A Band of Prophets. Followers of David. Soldiers of Saul. People of the Court, etc.

SCENE: A Hall of Judgment in the palace of Saul at Gibeah. The walls, pillars and ceiling are of cedar richly carven with images of serpents, pomegranates and cherubim in gold. The floors are of bright marble; the throne of ivory, hung with a lion’s skin whose head is its footstool. On the right and left, doors, draped with finely woven curtains of purple and white, lead to other portions of the palace. Seats toward the front. Lamps burn low.The Hall, supported on pillars, is open along the back, where a Porch, surrounding the Court of the palace, crosses. Through the Porch, on the environing hills, glow the camp-fires of the Philistines, the enemies of Israel.JUDITH, LEAH and ZILLA are reclining restively on the floor of the Hall.

The Hall, supported on pillars, is open along the back, where a Porch, surrounding the Court of the palace, crosses. Through the Porch, on the environing hills, glow the camp-fires of the Philistines, the enemies of Israel.

JUDITH, LEAH and ZILLA are reclining restively on the floor of the Hall.

JUDITH[Springing to her feet impatiently.]O for a feast! pomegranate wine and song!LEAHOh! oh!ZILLAA feast indeed! the men in camp!When was a laugh or any leaping here?Never; and none to charm with timbreling![She goes to the porch.]LEAHWhat shall we do?JUDITHI’ll dance.ZILLAUntil you’re dead.JUDITHOr till a youth wed Zilla for her beauty?I’ll not soil mine with sullen fear all dayBecause these Philistines press round. As wellBe wenches gathering grapes or wool! Come, Leah.[She prepares to dance.]LEAHNo, Judith, I’ll put henna on my nails,And mend my anklet.[She sits down.]ZILLA [At the curtains.]Oh! oh, oh!JUDITHNow hear her!Who, who, now? who, who is it? dog, fox, devil?ZILLAAll!JUDITHThen ’tis Ishui! [Bounding to curtains.] Yes, Ishui!And fury in him, sallow, sour fury!A jackal were his mate! Come, come, we’ll plague him.ZILLAAnd too—with David whom he hates!JUDITHAie, David!A joy to rouse men up to jealousy!LEAHWhy hates he David, Zilla?ZILLAStupid Leah!JUDITHHush, hush, be meet and ready now; he’s near.Look as for silly visions and for dreams![They pose themselves. Ishui enters—sees them. Judith sighs.]ISHUINow timbrel-gaud, why gaping here!JUDITHO! ’tisPrince Ishui!ZILLAPrince Ishui! Then heWill tell us! he will tell us!LEAHYes!JUDITHOf David!O is he come! when, where, quick, quick, and willHe pluck us ecstasies out of his harp,Winning until we’re wanton for him, mad,And sigh and laugh and weep to the moon!ISHUILow thing!Chaff of the king!JUDITHThe king! I had not thought!David a king! how beauteous would he be!ISHUIDavid?JUDITHTurban of sapphire! robe of gold!ISHUIA king? o’er Israel?JUDITHWho, who can tell!Have you not heard? Yesterday in the campAmong war-old but fearful men he offeredKingly to meet Goliath—great Goliath!ISHUIWhat do you say? to meet Goliath?JUDITH [Laughing in his face.]Aie![He thrusts her from him. She goes dancing with Zilla and Leah.]ADRIEL [Who has entered.]Ishui, in a rage?ISHUIShould I not be!ADRIELNot would you be yourself.ISHUINot? [Deftly.] You say well.I should not, no. Pardon, then, Adriel.ADRIELWhat was the offence?ISHUITurn from it.—I have notBidden you here for vapours; yet they hadSubstance as well for you!ADRIELFor me?ISHUIWho likesLaughter against him!ADRIELI was laughed at?ISHUIWhy,It is this shepherd!ADRIELDavid?ISHUIWith his harp!Flinging enchantment on the palace airTill he impassions to him all who breathe.ADRIELWhat sting from that? He’s lovable and brave.ISHUILovable?Lovable?ADRIELI do not see.ISHUIThis then: you’ve hither come with gifts and gold,Dream-bringing amethyst and weft of Ind,To wed my sister, Merab?ADRIELIt is so.ISHUIAnd you’ve the king’s consent; but she denies?ADRIELAs every wind, you know it.ISHUIStill denies!And you, lost in the maze of her, fare onBlindly and find no reason for it!ADRIELHow?What reason can be? women are not clear;And least unto themselves.ISHUIOr to their fools.[He goes to curtains and draws out Adah.]Your mistress, Merab, girl, whom does she love?Unclench your hands.ADAHI hate her.ISHUIInsolent!Answer; I am not milky Jonathan.Answer; and for the rest—You hear?ADAHShe loves—The shepherd David!ADRIELWho, girl?ADAHI care not!She is unkind; I wilt not spy for herOn Michal, and I’ll tell her secrets all!And David does not love her—and she raves.ISHUIOff to your sleep; now off—[Makes to strikes her.]ADRIELIshui, no.[Adahgoes.]ISHUIAnd see you now how ‘lovable’ he is!I tell you that he stands athwart us all!The heart of Merab swung a censer to him,My seat at table with the king usurped!Mildew and mocking to the harp of Doeg,As it were any slave’s; the while we allAre lepered with suspicion.ADRIELOf the king?ISHUIAh! and of Jonathan and Michal.ADRIELHush.[EnterMichalpassing withMiriam.]Michal, delay. Whom lead you?MICHALMiriam,A prophetess.ADRIELHow of the king to-night?MICHALHe’s not at rest; dreads Samuel’s prophecyThe throne shall pass from him, and darkens moreAgainst this boundless Philistine GoliathWho dares at Israel daily on the hills,As we were dogs!ADRIELIs David with him?MICHALNo;But he is sent for—and will ease him—Ah!He’s wonderful to heal the king with his harp!A waft, a sunny leap of melody,And swift the hovering mad shadow’s gone—As magic!ISHUIMichal.… Curst!MICHALWhat anger’s this?ISHUIDisdaining Doeg and his plea to dust,His waiting and the winning-o’er of Edom,You are enamoured of this David too?MICHALI think my brother Ishui hath a fever.[She goes—calmly, with Miriam.]ISHUINow are you kindled—are you quivering,Or must this shepherd put upon us more?ADRIELBut has he not dealt honorably?ISHUINo.ADRIELWhy do you urge it?ISHUIWhy have senses. HeWith Samuel the prophet fast enshroudsSome secret, and has Samuel not toldThe kingdom from my father shall be rentAnd fall unto another?ADRIELYou are certain?ISHUIAs granite.[Voices are heard in altercation.]Yonder!ADRIELThe king?ISHUIAnd SamuelWith prophecy or some refusal tears him![They step aside.Saulfollowed bySamuelstrides in and mounts the throne.]SAULYou threat, and ever thunder threatening!Pour seething prophesy into my veins,Till a simoon of madness in me moves.Am I not king, the king? chosen and sealed?Who’ve been anathema and have been baneUnto the foes of Israel, and filledThe earth with death of them?And do you still forbid that I bear goldAnd bribe away this Philistine arrayFolded about us, fettering with flame?SAMUELYes,—yes! While there is air, and awe of HeavenDo I forbid! A champion must riseTo level this Goliath. Thus may weLoose on them pest of panic and of fear.SAULAre forty days not dead? A champion!None will arise—’tis vain. And I’ll not waitOn miracle.SAMUELOffer thy daughter then,Michal, thy fairest, to whoever shall.SAULDemand and drain for more! without an end.Ever vexation! No; I will not.SAMUELThen,Out of Jehovah and a vast foreseenI tell thee again, thou perilous proud king,The sceptre shall slip from thee to another![He moves to go.]SAULThe sceptre.…SAMUELTo another!SAULFrom me! No!You rouse afar the billowing of ill.I grant—go not!—I grovel to your will,Fear it and fawn as to omnipotence,[Snatching atSamuel’smantle.]And vow to all its divination—all!SAMUELThen, Saul of Israel, the hour is near,When shall arise one, and Goliath fall![Samuelgoes slowly out,Saulsinks back.]ISHUIOh,—subtle!SAULThus he sways me.ISHUISubtle!—subtle!And yet I must not speak; come, Adriel,No use of us here.[He makes as if to go.]SAULUse? subtle? Stand!ISHUINo, father, no.SAULWhat mean you?ISHUIDo not ask.…Yet how it creeps, and how!SAULUnveil your words.ISHUIDo you not see it crawl, this serpent scheme?Goliath slain—the people mad with praise,Then fallen from you—Michal the victor’s wife.…SAULSay on; say on.ISHUIOr else the champion slain—Fear on the people—panic—the kingdom’s ruin!SAULNow do the folds slip from me.ISHUIAnd you see?Ah then, if one arise? If one arise?SAULDeath, death! If he hath touched this prophet—ifMerely a little moment!—ISHUII have seenYour David with him.SAULDeath! if—Come here: David?ISHUIIn secret.SAULSay you?ISHUIYes,SAULThe folds slip further;To this you lead me—hatred against David!To this with supple envy’s easy glide!ISHUII have but told—SAULYou have but builded lies,As ever you are building and forever.I’ll hear no more against him—Abner—No.[ToAbner, who enters.]David, and with his harp.ABNERMy lord—SAULNot come?He is not come? And never! but delays.ABNERTime’s yet to pass.SAULThere is not—Am I king?[A harp is heard.]See you, ’tis he! ’Tis David, and he sings!DAVID [Bravely, within.]Smiter of hosts,Terrible Saul!Vile on the hills shall he laugh who boastsNone is amongGreat Israel’s allFearless for Saul, king Saul![Entering with people of the palace.]Aye, is there noneGalled of the sting,Will at the soul of Goliath run?Wring it and upTo his false gods fling?…None for the king, the king?[He drops to his knee, amid praise, before the throne.]SAUL [Darkening]Forego this praise and standAway from him; ’tis overmuch. [ToDavid] Why haveYou dallied and delayed?DAVIDMy lord, delayed?SAULDo not smile wonder, mocking!DAVIDWhy, my lord,I do not mock. Only the birds have wings.Yet on the vales behind me I have leftHaste and a swirling wonderment of air,And in the torrent’s troubled vein amaze,So swift I hurried hither at your urgenceOut of the fields and folding the far sheep!SAULYou have not; you have dallied.[He motions. All go butDavid, whom he comes down toward, indeterminately.]You have dallied.DAVIDDeep in the king I see a darkness foamAnd sheeted passion, as a lightning gust.Shall I not play to him?SAULYou shall not, no.[Slowly draws a dagger.]I’ll not be lulled.DAVIDIs it a tiger gleam,Terrible fury stealing from the heartAnd crouching cold within the eye of Saul?SAULI’ll not endure. They say that you—DAVIDThey say?What is this ravage in you. Does the truthSo limpid overflow in palaces?Never an enemy to venom it?Am I not David, faithful, and thy friend?SAULI’ll slay you, and regretless.DAVID [Unmoving]Slay, my lord?SAULDo you not fear? and brave me to my breast!DAVIDHave I done wrong that I should fear the king?Reed as I am, could he not breathe and break?And I should be oblivion at a word!But under the terror of his might have INot seen his heart beat justice and beat love?See, even now…!SAULI will not listen to them!DAVIDTo whom, my lord, and what?SAULEver they say,“This David,” and “this David!”DAVIDAh, my harp!SAULBut think you, David, I shall lose the kingdom?DAVID [Starting]My lord…!SAULPain in your eyes? you think it? DeemI cannot overleap this destiny?DAVIDTo that let us not verge; it has but ill.Deeper the future gulf is for our fears.Forget it. Forget the brink may ever gape,And wield the throne so well that God himselfMustnot unking you, more than he would cryThe morning star from Heaven! Then, I swear it,None else will!SAULSwear?DAVIDNay, nay!SAULYou swear?DAVIDBut words,Foolishly from the heart; a shepherd speech!Give them no mood; but see, see yonder firesCamping upon the peace of Israel,As we were carrion beneath the sun!Let us conceive annihilation on them,Hurricane rush and deluging and ruin.SAULAh, but the prophecy! the prophecy!It eats in me the food of rest and ease.And David, nearer: Samuel in my steadAnother hath anointed.DAVIDSaul, not this!This should not fall to me, my lord; no more!You cannot understand; it pains beyondAll duty and enduring!SAULPains beyond…?Who is he? know you of him? do you? know you?You sup the confidence of Samuel?I’ll search from Nile to Nineveh—DAVIDMy lord!SAULMountain and desert, wilderness and sea,Under and over, search—and find.DAVIDPeace, peace![EnterMichaljoyously.]MICHALO father, father! David! Listen!—Why,All here is dark and quivering as pain,And a foreboding binds me ere I breathe!David, you have not been as sun to him!DAVIDBut Michal will be now.SAULChild, well, what then?MICHALFather, a secret! Oh, and it will makeDawn and delight in you!SAULPerhaps; then, well?MICHALOh, I have heard…!SAULHave heard?—Why do you pale?[She stands unaccountably moved.]Now are you Baal-bit?DAVIDMichal!MICHAL [In terror.]David!… the dread.What does it mean? I cannot speak! It shrinksShivering down upon my heart in awe!DAVIDSo piteous are you? suddenly so numb?And you are faint? let it rush from your lips!Can any moving in the world so bringTerror upon you! Speak, what is it?MICHALAh!I know not; danger rising and its wingSudden against my lips!DAVIDTo warn?MICHALIt shall not!There—now again flows joy; I think it flows.SAULThen—you have heard…?MICHALYes, father, yes! Have youNot much desired discovery of whomSamuel hath anointed?SAULWell?MICHALI’ve found[Davidblenches.]Almost have found! A prophetess to-dayHath told me that he is a—[She stops in realizing horror.]SAULNow you cease?Sudden and senseless!MICHALDavid?—No!SAULGod! God!Have I not bidden swiftly! Ever thenVexation! I could—No. Will she not speak!MICHALI cannot.SAULCannot! Are you flesh of me!DAVIDMy lord, not anger! Hear me…SAULCannot?DAVIDHear!Her lips could never seal upon a wrong.Sudden divinity is on them, silenceSent for the benison of Israel,Else were it shattered by her love to you!Believe! in all the riven realm of dutyThere’s no obedience from thee she would hold.If it seem other—[EnterAbnerhurriedly.]ABNERPardon, O king. At once!SAULI will not. Do you come with vexing too?ABNERThe Philistines—some fury is afoot.A spy within our gates—and scorns to speak.SAULConspiracy of silence!… Back to him.[Abnergoes.][ToDavidandMichal.] But you—I’ll not forget. I’ll not forget.[Saulgoes]DAVIDForget! anointing! peril! what are they all!Michal?—for me you have done this, for me?[She stands immovable.]I am swung with joy, as palms of Abila![Goes to her.]A princess, you, and the veins of you live warmWith sympathy and love unto your father,Yet you have shielded me?MICHALYou are the anointed?DAVIDI am—oh do not flint your loveliness!—I am the anointed, but all innocentIn will or hope of any envious wrongAs lily blowing of blasphemy! as dewUpon it is of enmity!MICHALAnointed!You whom the king uplifted from the fields!DAVIDAnd who am ever faithful to him!MICHALYou,Whom Jonathan loves more than women love!DAVIDYet reaches not my love to Jonathan!MICHALYou—you!DAVIDBut, hear me!MICHALYou, of all!DAVIDO Hear!Of my anointing Jonathan is ’ware,Knows it is holy, helpless, innocentAs dawn or a drift of dreaming in the night!Knows it unsought—out of the skies—supernal—From the inspirèd cruse of Samuel!For Israel it dripped upon me, andFor Israel must drip until I die!Or till high Gath and Askalon are blownDust on the wind, and all PhilistiaLie peopleless and still under the stars!—Goliath, then, a laughter evermore!…Still, still you shrink! do you not see, not feel?MICHALSo have you breathed yourself about my heart,Even as moon-lit incense, spirit flameBurning away all barrier!DAVIDBut see!MICHALAnd all the world has streamed a rapture in,Till even now my lids from anger falterAnd the dew falls!DAVIDRestrain! O do not weep!Upon my heart each tear were as a seaFlooding it from all duty but the courseOf thy delight!MICHALPoor, that I should have tears!Fury were better, tempest! O weak eyes,When ’tis my father, and with SamuelYou creep to steal his kingdom!DAVIDMichal!… God!MICHALYes, steal it!DAVIDCruel! fell accusal! Yes,Utterly false and full of wounding![Struggling, then with control.] Yet,Forgive that even when thy arrows driveDeeper than all the skill of time can draw,I spare thee not the furrowed face of pain.…Delirious wings of hope that fluttered up,At last to fall![Moves to go.]MICHALDavid!DAVIDFarewell!MICHAL… You must not!DAVIDPeace to you—peace and joy!MICHALYou must not go![He turns. She sways, then reaches out her arms. As irresistibly they move toward each other,DoegandMerabappear through the curtains.Michalutters a low cry. They vanish.]MICHAL[In numb affright] Merab and Doeg!DAVIDYet what matter, now!Were it the driven night-unshrouded dead!Under the firmament is but one need,That you will understand!MICHALBut Merab! ah,She’s cunning, cold and cruel, and she loves thee;Hath told her love to Ahinoam the queen!And Doeg hates thee—since for me he’s mad!DAVIDBe it, his hate, as wild, as wide as windsThat gather up the desert for their blast,Be it as Sheol deep, stronger than starsThat fling fate on us, and I care not, care not,If I am trusted and to Michal truth!Hear, hear me! for the kingdom, tho ’t may come,I yearn not, but for you!MICHALNo, no!DAVIDFor you!Since I a shepherd o’er a wild of hillsFirst beheld you the daughter of the kingAmid his servants, leaning, still with noon,Beautiful under a tamarisk, untilAll beauty else is dead—MICHALAh cease!DAVIDSince then,I have been wonder ecstasy and dream!The molded light and fragrant miracle,Body of you and soul, lifted me tillWhen you departed—MICHALNo, you rend me!DAVIDIFell thro’ infinity of void!MICHALNo more!DAVIDThen came the prophet Samuel with anointing!My hope sprung as the sun!MICHALI must not hear!DAVIDThen was I called to play before the king.Here in this hall where cherubim shine out,Where the night silence—MICHALDavid!DAVIDStrung me tense,I waited, shepherd-timid, and you came,You for the king to try my skill! you, you!MICHALLeave me, ah leave! I yield!DAVIDAnd often sinceHave we not swayed and swept thro’ happy hours,Far from the birth unto the bourne of bliss?MICHALAnd I—DAVIDTo-night you did not to the kingReveal my helpless chrism, give me to peril.Say but the reason!MICHALDavid!DAVIDSpeak, O speak!MICHALAnd shall I, shall I? how this prophetessMiriam hath foretold—DAVIDSome wonder? speak!MICHAL [Springing up the throne.]Hath told I shall be queen of Israel!DAVIDMichal, the queen? the queen! We two are thenYoked of eternity unto this end!MICHAL [Shrinking down.]No, no! horror in me moans out against it!Wed me with destiny against my father?Dethrone my mother? Ah!DAVIDNot that—no wrong!MICHALThen swear conspiracy upon its tideNever shall lift you!DAVIDDeeper than soul or sea,Deep as divinity is deep, I swear.If it shall come, the kingdom—MICHAL“If!” not “if.”Surrender this anointing! Spurn it, sayYou never will be king though IsraelKingless go mad for it!DAVIDI cannot.MICHALGuile!DAVIDI cannot—and I must not. It is holy!MICHALThen must I hate you—scorn you—DAVIDMichal!MICHALAnd will.But to reign over Israel you care,Not for the peace of it!DAVIDThus all is vain;A seething on the lips, I’ll say no more …Care but to reign and not for Israel’s calm?I who am wounded with her every wound?…Look out upon yon Philistine bold firesLapping the night with bloody tongue—look out![A commotion is heard within.]As God has swung the world and hung foreverThe infinite in awe, to-morrow nightNot one of them shall burn!MICHALYou pall me!DAVIDNone!MICHALWhat is this strength! It seizes on me! No,I’ll not believe, no, no, more than I wouldFrom a boy’s breath or the mere sling you wearA multitude should flee! And you shall learnA daughter to a father may be trueTho paleness be her doom until she die![She turns to go. EnterJonathaneagerly.]JONATHANDavid!DAVIDMy friend—my Jonathan! ’Tis you?[They embrace.Michalgoes.]JONATHANGreat heart, I’ve heard how yesterday beforeThe soldiers you.… But Michal gone? No word?DAVIDThe anointing.JONATHANAh, she knows?DAVIDAll.JONATHANAnd disdainsBelieving? tell me.DAVIDNo, not now—not now.Let me forget it in a leap of deeds.[The commotion sounds again.]And all this murmur misty of distress,What is it? sprung of the Philistines? new terror?This sounding giant flings again his foam?Jonathan, I am flame that will not wait,What is it? I must strike.JONATHANDavid.…DAVIDTell me,And do not bring dissuasion more, or pause.JONATHANThe king comes here.DAVIDNow?JONATHANWith a spy who keepsFiercely to silence.DAVIDThen is peril up!Jonathan—!JONATHANDavid, you must cool from this.Determination surges you o’erfar.I will not see you rush on perishing,Not though it be the aid of Israel.DAVIDI must.… I will not let them ever throng,Staining the hills, and starving us from peace.Rather the last ray living in me, ratherDeath and the desecration of the worm.Bid me not back with love, nor plea; I must!JONATHANBut think—DAVIDI must.JONATHAN’Twere futile.DAVIDHear; the king!JONATHANThe madness of it!DAVIDNo, and see; they come.JONATHANStrangely my father is unstrung.DAVIDThey come.[EnterSaulwithSamuel; Soldiers with the spy;AhinoamwithAbner; and all the court in suppressed dread.]SAUL[ToSamuel] He will not speak, but scorns me, and his lipsBitterly curve and grapple. But he shallLearn there is torture to it! Set him forth.[The spy is thrust forward.]Tighten his bonds up till he moan.[It is done.]Aye, gasp,Accursed Philistine! Now wilt thou tellThe plan and passion of thy people ’gainst us?SPYBaal!SAULTighten the torture more.… Now will you?SPY [In agony.]Yea!SAULOn, then, reveal.SPYNew forces have arrived.Numberless; more than peaks of Arabah.[General movement of uneasiness.]Unless before to-morrow’s moon one’s sentTo overthrow Goliath—Gods! the pain!SAULWell?—Well?SPYThen Gibeah attacked, and allEven to sucking babes be put to sword![A movement of horror.]AHINOAMAll Gibeah!A WOMANMy little ones? No, no![She rushes frantically out.]SAMUELThen, Saul of Gibeah, one thing and oneAlone is to be done. A champion,To break this beetling giant down to death!SAULThere is none.SAMUELIs none! Call! I order it.SAULThen who will dare against him![A silence.]See you now.SAMUELYou, Abner, will not?ABNERIt were death and vain.SAMUELDoeg, chief servant of the king?DOEGWhy me?Had I a mother out of Israel?I am an alien, an Edomite.DAVIDMy lord, this is no more endurable!Futile and death? Alien? Edomite?Has not this Philistine before the gatesWith insult and illimitable breathVaunting of vanity and smiting laughterBoasted and braved and threatened up to Baal?And now unless one slay him, IsraelFrom babe to age must bleed and be no more!I am a shepherd, have but seized the lionAnd throttled the bleating kid out of his throat;Little it then beseems that I thrust inWhere battle captains pale and falter off;But this is past all carp of rank or station.One must go out—Goliath must have end.DOEGAh, ah! andyouwill!ISHUIYou?JONATHANNo, David!SAULYou?DAVIDSudden you hound about me ravenous?Have I thrown doom not daring to your feet,Ruler of Israel, that you rise wild,Livid above me as an avalanche?DOEGA plot! it is a plot! He will be slain—From you, my lord, dominion then will fall!Or should it not …SAMUELLiar; it is no plot.But courage sprung seraphic out of night,Beautiful and a bravery from God!MICHAL [Behind the throng.]Open, and let me enter! Open![She enters.]Father,It is not false? but now, the uttermost?To-morrow, if Goliath still exult,There’s peril of desolation, bloody ruin?SAMUELI answer for him.MICHALThen to your will,Father, unto will of yesterdayI bend me now with sacrificial joy.Unto Goliath’s slayer is the handOf Michal, the king’s daughter!DAVID [Joyously]Michal! Michal!DOEGSee, see, my lord! Do you not understand?ISHUIIt is another coiling of their plot!MICHALCoiling of plot? What mean you?MERABAh? You knowNot it is David offers against Goliath?MICHALDavid? [Shrinking] David?[A low tumult is heard without. Enter a Captain hurriedly.]CAPTAINO King, bid me to speak!SAULThen speak!CAPTAINFear is upon the host. There willBe mutiny unless, Goliath slain,Courage spring up anew.DAVIDMy lord, then, choose!Ere longer waiting fester to disaster.SAMUELYea, king of Gibeah, and bid him go,And Michal for his meed! or evermoreEvil be on you and the sear of shame—And haunting memory beyond the tomb!SAULThen let him—let him. And upon the fieldOf Ephes-Dammin. But I am not blind![ToAbner]Let him, to morrow! Go, prepare the host.Yet—I am king, remember! I am king![Saulgoes; there is a murmur of relief. All exceptMichalfollow, with various expressions of joy or hate towardDavid.]DAVIDMichal![She looks at him; struggles against tears, and turning, goes.Davidstands gazing sadly after her. Then a trumpet sounds, and soldiers shouting exultantly without, throng to the porch.]DAVID [Thrilled; his hand on his sling]For Israel! For Israel![He goes, toward the soldiers.][CURTAIN.]

JUDITH

[Springing to her feet impatiently.]

O for a feast! pomegranate wine and song!

LEAH

Oh! oh!

ZILLA

A feast indeed! the men in camp!

When was a laugh or any leaping here?

Never; and none to charm with timbreling!

[She goes to the porch.]

LEAH

What shall we do?

JUDITH

I’ll dance.

ZILLA

Until you’re dead.

JUDITH

Or till a youth wed Zilla for her beauty?

I’ll not soil mine with sullen fear all day

Because these Philistines press round. As well

Be wenches gathering grapes or wool! Come, Leah.

[She prepares to dance.]

LEAH

No, Judith, I’ll put henna on my nails,

And mend my anklet.

[She sits down.]

ZILLA [At the curtains.]

Oh! oh, oh!

JUDITH

Now hear her!

Who, who, now? who, who is it? dog, fox, devil?

ZILLA

All!

JUDITH

Then ’tis Ishui! [Bounding to curtains.] Yes, Ishui!

And fury in him, sallow, sour fury!

A jackal were his mate! Come, come, we’ll plague him.

ZILLA

And too—with David whom he hates!

JUDITH

Aie, David!

A joy to rouse men up to jealousy!

LEAH

Why hates he David, Zilla?

ZILLA

Stupid Leah!

JUDITH

Hush, hush, be meet and ready now; he’s near.

Look as for silly visions and for dreams!

[They pose themselves. Ishui enters—sees them. Judith sighs.]

ISHUI

Now timbrel-gaud, why gaping here!

JUDITH

O! ’tis

Prince Ishui!

ZILLA

Prince Ishui! Then he

Will tell us! he will tell us!

LEAH

Yes!

JUDITH

Of David!

O is he come! when, where, quick, quick, and will

He pluck us ecstasies out of his harp,

Winning until we’re wanton for him, mad,

And sigh and laugh and weep to the moon!

ISHUI

Low thing!

Chaff of the king!

JUDITH

The king! I had not thought!

David a king! how beauteous would he be!

ISHUI

David?

JUDITH

Turban of sapphire! robe of gold!

ISHUI

A king? o’er Israel?

JUDITH

Who, who can tell!

Have you not heard? Yesterday in the camp

Among war-old but fearful men he offered

Kingly to meet Goliath—great Goliath!

ISHUI

What do you say? to meet Goliath?

JUDITH [Laughing in his face.]

Aie!

[He thrusts her from him. She goes dancing with Zilla and Leah.]

ADRIEL [Who has entered.]

Ishui, in a rage?

ISHUI

Should I not be!

ADRIEL

Not would you be yourself.

ISHUI

Not? [Deftly.] You say well.

I should not, no. Pardon, then, Adriel.

ADRIEL

What was the offence?

ISHUI

Turn from it.—I have not

Bidden you here for vapours; yet they had

Substance as well for you!

ADRIEL

For me?

ISHUI

Who likes

Laughter against him!

ADRIEL

I was laughed at?

ISHUI

Why,

It is this shepherd!

ADRIEL

David?

ISHUI

With his harp!

Flinging enchantment on the palace air

Till he impassions to him all who breathe.

ADRIEL

What sting from that? He’s lovable and brave.

ISHUI

Lovable?Lovable?

ADRIEL

I do not see.

ISHUI

This then: you’ve hither come with gifts and gold,

Dream-bringing amethyst and weft of Ind,

To wed my sister, Merab?

ADRIEL

It is so.

ISHUI

And you’ve the king’s consent; but she denies?

ADRIEL

As every wind, you know it.

ISHUI

Still denies!

And you, lost in the maze of her, fare on

Blindly and find no reason for it!

ADRIEL

How?

What reason can be? women are not clear;

And least unto themselves.

ISHUI

Or to their fools.

[He goes to curtains and draws out Adah.]

Your mistress, Merab, girl, whom does she love?

Unclench your hands.

ADAH

I hate her.

ISHUI

Insolent!

Answer; I am not milky Jonathan.

Answer; and for the rest—You hear?

ADAH

She loves—

The shepherd David!

ADRIEL

Who, girl?

ADAH

I care not!

She is unkind; I wilt not spy for her

On Michal, and I’ll tell her secrets all!

And David does not love her—and she raves.

ISHUI

Off to your sleep; now off—

[Makes to strikes her.]

ADRIEL

Ishui, no.

[Adahgoes.]

ISHUI

And see you now how ‘lovable’ he is!

I tell you that he stands athwart us all!

The heart of Merab swung a censer to him,

My seat at table with the king usurped!

Mildew and mocking to the harp of Doeg,

As it were any slave’s; the while we all

Are lepered with suspicion.

ADRIEL

Of the king?

ISHUI

Ah! and of Jonathan and Michal.

ADRIEL

Hush.

[EnterMichalpassing withMiriam.]

Michal, delay. Whom lead you?

MICHAL

Miriam,

A prophetess.

ADRIEL

How of the king to-night?

MICHAL

He’s not at rest; dreads Samuel’s prophecy

The throne shall pass from him, and darkens more

Against this boundless Philistine Goliath

Who dares at Israel daily on the hills,

As we were dogs!

ADRIEL

Is David with him?

MICHAL

No;

But he is sent for—and will ease him—Ah!

He’s wonderful to heal the king with his harp!

A waft, a sunny leap of melody,

And swift the hovering mad shadow’s gone—

As magic!

ISHUI

Michal.… Curst!

MICHAL

What anger’s this?

ISHUI

Disdaining Doeg and his plea to dust,

His waiting and the winning-o’er of Edom,

You are enamoured of this David too?

MICHAL

I think my brother Ishui hath a fever.

[She goes—calmly, with Miriam.]

ISHUI

Now are you kindled—are you quivering,

Or must this shepherd put upon us more?

ADRIEL

But has he not dealt honorably?

ISHUI

No.

ADRIEL

Why do you urge it?

ISHUI

Why have senses. He

With Samuel the prophet fast enshrouds

Some secret, and has Samuel not told

The kingdom from my father shall be rent

And fall unto another?

ADRIEL

You are certain?

ISHUI

As granite.

[Voices are heard in altercation.]

Yonder!

ADRIEL

The king?

ISHUI

And Samuel

With prophecy or some refusal tears him!

[They step aside.Saulfollowed bySamuelstrides in and mounts the throne.]

SAUL

You threat, and ever thunder threatening!

Pour seething prophesy into my veins,

Till a simoon of madness in me moves.

Am I not king, the king? chosen and sealed?

Who’ve been anathema and have been bane

Unto the foes of Israel, and filled

The earth with death of them?

And do you still forbid that I bear gold

And bribe away this Philistine array

Folded about us, fettering with flame?

SAMUEL

Yes,—yes! While there is air, and awe of Heaven

Do I forbid! A champion must rise

To level this Goliath. Thus may we

Loose on them pest of panic and of fear.

SAUL

Are forty days not dead? A champion!

None will arise—’tis vain. And I’ll not wait

On miracle.

SAMUEL

Offer thy daughter then,

Michal, thy fairest, to whoever shall.

SAUL

Demand and drain for more! without an end.

Ever vexation! No; I will not.

SAMUEL

Then,

Out of Jehovah and a vast foreseen

I tell thee again, thou perilous proud king,

The sceptre shall slip from thee to another!

[He moves to go.]

SAUL

The sceptre.…

SAMUEL

To another!

SAUL

From me! No!

You rouse afar the billowing of ill.

I grant—go not!—I grovel to your will,

Fear it and fawn as to omnipotence,

[Snatching atSamuel’smantle.]

And vow to all its divination—all!

SAMUEL

Then, Saul of Israel, the hour is near,

When shall arise one, and Goliath fall!

[Samuelgoes slowly out,Saulsinks back.]

ISHUI

Oh,—subtle!

SAUL

Thus he sways me.

ISHUI

Subtle!—subtle!

And yet I must not speak; come, Adriel,

No use of us here.

[He makes as if to go.]

SAUL

Use? subtle? Stand!

ISHUI

No, father, no.

SAUL

What mean you?

ISHUI

Do not ask.…

Yet how it creeps, and how!

SAUL

Unveil your words.

ISHUI

Do you not see it crawl, this serpent scheme?

Goliath slain—the people mad with praise,

Then fallen from you—Michal the victor’s wife.…

SAUL

Say on; say on.

ISHUI

Or else the champion slain—

Fear on the people—panic—the kingdom’s ruin!

SAUL

Now do the folds slip from me.

ISHUI

And you see?

Ah then, if one arise? If one arise?

SAUL

Death, death! If he hath touched this prophet—if

Merely a little moment!—

ISHUI

I have seen

Your David with him.

SAUL

Death! if—Come here: David?

ISHUI

In secret.

SAUL

Say you?

ISHUI

Yes,

SAUL

The folds slip further;

To this you lead me—hatred against David!

To this with supple envy’s easy glide!

ISHUI

I have but told—

SAUL

You have but builded lies,

As ever you are building and forever.

I’ll hear no more against him—Abner—No.

[ToAbner, who enters.]

David, and with his harp.

ABNER

My lord—

SAUL

Not come?

He is not come? And never! but delays.

ABNER

Time’s yet to pass.

SAUL

There is not—Am I king?

[A harp is heard.]

See you, ’tis he! ’Tis David, and he sings!

DAVID [Bravely, within.]

Smiter of hosts,

Terrible Saul!

Vile on the hills shall he laugh who boasts

None is among

Great Israel’s all

Fearless for Saul, king Saul!

[Entering with people of the palace.]

Aye, is there none

Galled of the sting,

Will at the soul of Goliath run?

Wring it and up

To his false gods fling?…

None for the king, the king?

[He drops to his knee, amid praise, before the throne.]

SAUL [Darkening]

Forego this praise and stand

Away from him; ’tis overmuch. [ToDavid] Why have

You dallied and delayed?

DAVID

My lord, delayed?

SAUL

Do not smile wonder, mocking!

DAVID

Why, my lord,

I do not mock. Only the birds have wings.

Yet on the vales behind me I have left

Haste and a swirling wonderment of air,

And in the torrent’s troubled vein amaze,

So swift I hurried hither at your urgence

Out of the fields and folding the far sheep!

SAUL

You have not; you have dallied.

[He motions. All go butDavid, whom he comes down toward, indeterminately.]

You have dallied.

DAVID

Deep in the king I see a darkness foam

And sheeted passion, as a lightning gust.

Shall I not play to him?

SAUL

You shall not, no.

[Slowly draws a dagger.]

I’ll not be lulled.

DAVID

Is it a tiger gleam,

Terrible fury stealing from the heart

And crouching cold within the eye of Saul?

SAUL

I’ll not endure. They say that you—

DAVID

They say?

What is this ravage in you. Does the truth

So limpid overflow in palaces?

Never an enemy to venom it?

Am I not David, faithful, and thy friend?

SAUL

I’ll slay you, and regretless.

DAVID [Unmoving]

Slay, my lord?

SAUL

Do you not fear? and brave me to my breast!

DAVID

Have I done wrong that I should fear the king?

Reed as I am, could he not breathe and break?

And I should be oblivion at a word!

But under the terror of his might have I

Not seen his heart beat justice and beat love?

See, even now…!

SAUL

I will not listen to them!

DAVID

To whom, my lord, and what?

SAUL

Ever they say,

“This David,” and “this David!”

DAVID

Ah, my harp!

SAUL

But think you, David, I shall lose the kingdom?

DAVID [Starting]

My lord…!

SAUL

Pain in your eyes? you think it? Deem

I cannot overleap this destiny?

DAVID

To that let us not verge; it has but ill.

Deeper the future gulf is for our fears.

Forget it. Forget the brink may ever gape,

And wield the throne so well that God himself

Mustnot unking you, more than he would cry

The morning star from Heaven! Then, I swear it,

None else will!

SAUL

Swear?

DAVID

Nay, nay!

SAUL

You swear?

DAVID

But words,

Foolishly from the heart; a shepherd speech!

Give them no mood; but see, see yonder fires

Camping upon the peace of Israel,

As we were carrion beneath the sun!

Let us conceive annihilation on them,

Hurricane rush and deluging and ruin.

SAUL

Ah, but the prophecy! the prophecy!

It eats in me the food of rest and ease.

And David, nearer: Samuel in my stead

Another hath anointed.

DAVID

Saul, not this!

This should not fall to me, my lord; no more!

You cannot understand; it pains beyond

All duty and enduring!

SAUL

Pains beyond…?

Who is he? know you of him? do you? know you?

You sup the confidence of Samuel?

I’ll search from Nile to Nineveh—

DAVID

My lord!

SAUL

Mountain and desert, wilderness and sea,

Under and over, search—and find.

DAVID

Peace, peace!

[EnterMichaljoyously.]

MICHAL

O father, father! David! Listen!—Why,

All here is dark and quivering as pain,

And a foreboding binds me ere I breathe!

David, you have not been as sun to him!

DAVID

But Michal will be now.

SAUL

Child, well, what then?

MICHAL

Father, a secret! Oh, and it will make

Dawn and delight in you!

SAUL

Perhaps; then, well?

MICHAL

Oh, I have heard…!

SAUL

Have heard?—Why do you pale?

[She stands unaccountably moved.]

Now are you Baal-bit?

DAVID

Michal!

MICHAL [In terror.]

David!… the dread.

What does it mean? I cannot speak! It shrinks

Shivering down upon my heart in awe!

DAVID

So piteous are you? suddenly so numb?

And you are faint? let it rush from your lips!

Can any moving in the world so bring

Terror upon you! Speak, what is it?

MICHAL

Ah!

I know not; danger rising and its wing

Sudden against my lips!

DAVID

To warn?

MICHAL

It shall not!

There—now again flows joy; I think it flows.

SAUL

Then—you have heard…?

MICHAL

Yes, father, yes! Have you

Not much desired discovery of whom

Samuel hath anointed?

SAUL

Well?

MICHAL

I’ve found

[Davidblenches.]

Almost have found! A prophetess to-day

Hath told me that he is a—

[She stops in realizing horror.]

SAUL

Now you cease?

Sudden and senseless!

MICHAL

David?—No!

SAUL

God! God!

Have I not bidden swiftly! Ever then

Vexation! I could—No. Will she not speak!

MICHAL

I cannot.

SAUL

Cannot! Are you flesh of me!

DAVID

My lord, not anger! Hear me…

SAUL

Cannot?

DAVID

Hear!

Her lips could never seal upon a wrong.

Sudden divinity is on them, silence

Sent for the benison of Israel,

Else were it shattered by her love to you!

Believe! in all the riven realm of duty

There’s no obedience from thee she would hold.

If it seem other—

[EnterAbnerhurriedly.]

ABNER

Pardon, O king. At once!

SAUL

I will not. Do you come with vexing too?

ABNER

The Philistines—some fury is afoot.

A spy within our gates—and scorns to speak.

SAUL

Conspiracy of silence!… Back to him.

[Abnergoes.]

[ToDavidandMichal.] But you—I’ll not forget. I’ll not forget.

[Saulgoes]

DAVID

Forget! anointing! peril! what are they all!

Michal?—for me you have done this, for me?

[She stands immovable.]

I am swung with joy, as palms of Abila!

[Goes to her.]

A princess, you, and the veins of you live warm

With sympathy and love unto your father,

Yet you have shielded me?

MICHAL

You are the anointed?

DAVID

I am—oh do not flint your loveliness!—

I am the anointed, but all innocent

In will or hope of any envious wrong

As lily blowing of blasphemy! as dew

Upon it is of enmity!

MICHAL

Anointed!

You whom the king uplifted from the fields!

DAVID

And who am ever faithful to him!

MICHAL

You,

Whom Jonathan loves more than women love!

DAVID

Yet reaches not my love to Jonathan!

MICHAL

You—you!

DAVID

But, hear me!

MICHAL

You, of all!

DAVID

O Hear!

Of my anointing Jonathan is ’ware,

Knows it is holy, helpless, innocent

As dawn or a drift of dreaming in the night!

Knows it unsought—out of the skies—supernal—

From the inspirèd cruse of Samuel!

For Israel it dripped upon me, and

For Israel must drip until I die!

Or till high Gath and Askalon are blown

Dust on the wind, and all Philistia

Lie peopleless and still under the stars!—

Goliath, then, a laughter evermore!…

Still, still you shrink! do you not see, not feel?

MICHAL

So have you breathed yourself about my heart,

Even as moon-lit incense, spirit flame

Burning away all barrier!

DAVID

But see!

MICHAL

And all the world has streamed a rapture in,

Till even now my lids from anger falter

And the dew falls!

DAVID

Restrain! O do not weep!

Upon my heart each tear were as a sea

Flooding it from all duty but the course

Of thy delight!

MICHAL

Poor, that I should have tears!

Fury were better, tempest! O weak eyes,

When ’tis my father, and with Samuel

You creep to steal his kingdom!

DAVID

Michal!… God!

MICHAL

Yes, steal it!

DAVID

Cruel! fell accusal! Yes,

Utterly false and full of wounding!

[Struggling, then with control.] Yet,

Forgive that even when thy arrows drive

Deeper than all the skill of time can draw,

I spare thee not the furrowed face of pain.…

Delirious wings of hope that fluttered up,

At last to fall!

[Moves to go.]

MICHAL

David!

DAVID

Farewell!

MICHAL

… You must not!

DAVID

Peace to you—peace and joy!

MICHAL

You must not go!

[He turns. She sways, then reaches out her arms. As irresistibly they move toward each other,DoegandMerabappear through the curtains.Michalutters a low cry. They vanish.]

MICHAL

[In numb affright] Merab and Doeg!

DAVID

Yet what matter, now!

Were it the driven night-unshrouded dead!

Under the firmament is but one need,

That you will understand!

MICHAL

But Merab! ah,

She’s cunning, cold and cruel, and she loves thee;

Hath told her love to Ahinoam the queen!

And Doeg hates thee—since for me he’s mad!

DAVID

Be it, his hate, as wild, as wide as winds

That gather up the desert for their blast,

Be it as Sheol deep, stronger than stars

That fling fate on us, and I care not, care not,

If I am trusted and to Michal truth!

Hear, hear me! for the kingdom, tho ’t may come,

I yearn not, but for you!

MICHAL

No, no!

DAVID

For you!

Since I a shepherd o’er a wild of hills

First beheld you the daughter of the king

Amid his servants, leaning, still with noon,

Beautiful under a tamarisk, until

All beauty else is dead—

MICHAL

Ah cease!

DAVID

Since then,

I have been wonder ecstasy and dream!

The molded light and fragrant miracle,

Body of you and soul, lifted me till

When you departed—

MICHAL

No, you rend me!

DAVID

Fell thro’ infinity of void!

MICHAL

No more!

DAVID

Then came the prophet Samuel with anointing!

My hope sprung as the sun!

MICHAL

I must not hear!

DAVID

Then was I called to play before the king.

Here in this hall where cherubim shine out,

Where the night silence—

MICHAL

David!

DAVID

Strung me tense,

I waited, shepherd-timid, and you came,

You for the king to try my skill! you, you!

MICHAL

Leave me, ah leave! I yield!

DAVID

And often since

Have we not swayed and swept thro’ happy hours,

Far from the birth unto the bourne of bliss?

MICHAL

And I—

DAVID

To-night you did not to the king

Reveal my helpless chrism, give me to peril.

Say but the reason!

MICHAL

David!

DAVID

Speak, O speak!

MICHAL

And shall I, shall I? how this prophetess

Miriam hath foretold—

DAVID

Some wonder? speak!

MICHAL [Springing up the throne.]

Hath told I shall be queen of Israel!

DAVID

Michal, the queen? the queen! We two are then

Yoked of eternity unto this end!

MICHAL [Shrinking down.]

No, no! horror in me moans out against it!

Wed me with destiny against my father?

Dethrone my mother? Ah!

DAVID

Not that—no wrong!

MICHAL

Then swear conspiracy upon its tide

Never shall lift you!

DAVID

Deeper than soul or sea,

Deep as divinity is deep, I swear.

If it shall come, the kingdom—

MICHAL

“If!” not “if.”

Surrender this anointing! Spurn it, say

You never will be king though Israel

Kingless go mad for it!

DAVID

I cannot.

MICHAL

Guile!

DAVID

I cannot—and I must not. It is holy!

MICHAL

Then must I hate you—scorn you—

DAVID

Michal!

MICHAL

And will.

But to reign over Israel you care,

Not for the peace of it!

DAVID

Thus all is vain;

A seething on the lips, I’ll say no more …

Care but to reign and not for Israel’s calm?

I who am wounded with her every wound?…

Look out upon yon Philistine bold fires

Lapping the night with bloody tongue—look out!

[A commotion is heard within.]

As God has swung the world and hung forever

The infinite in awe, to-morrow night

Not one of them shall burn!

MICHAL

You pall me!

DAVID

None!

MICHAL

What is this strength! It seizes on me! No,

I’ll not believe, no, no, more than I would

From a boy’s breath or the mere sling you wear

A multitude should flee! And you shall learn

A daughter to a father may be true

Tho paleness be her doom until she die!

[She turns to go. EnterJonathaneagerly.]

JONATHAN

David!

DAVID

My friend—my Jonathan! ’Tis you?

[They embrace.Michalgoes.]

JONATHAN

Great heart, I’ve heard how yesterday before

The soldiers you.… But Michal gone? No word?

DAVID

The anointing.

JONATHAN

Ah, she knows?

DAVID

All.

JONATHAN

And disdains

Believing? tell me.

DAVID

No, not now—not now.

Let me forget it in a leap of deeds.

[The commotion sounds again.]

And all this murmur misty of distress,

What is it? sprung of the Philistines? new terror?

This sounding giant flings again his foam?

Jonathan, I am flame that will not wait,

What is it? I must strike.

JONATHAN

David.…

DAVID

Tell me,

And do not bring dissuasion more, or pause.

JONATHAN

The king comes here.

DAVID

Now?

JONATHAN

With a spy who keeps

Fiercely to silence.

DAVID

Then is peril up!

Jonathan—!

JONATHAN

David, you must cool from this.

Determination surges you o’erfar.

I will not see you rush on perishing,

Not though it be the aid of Israel.

DAVID

I must.… I will not let them ever throng,

Staining the hills, and starving us from peace.

Rather the last ray living in me, rather

Death and the desecration of the worm.

Bid me not back with love, nor plea; I must!

JONATHAN

But think—

DAVID

I must.

JONATHAN

’Twere futile.

DAVID

Hear; the king!

JONATHAN

The madness of it!

DAVID

No, and see; they come.

JONATHAN

Strangely my father is unstrung.

DAVID

They come.

[EnterSaulwithSamuel; Soldiers with the spy;AhinoamwithAbner; and all the court in suppressed dread.]

SAUL

[ToSamuel] He will not speak, but scorns me, and his lips

Bitterly curve and grapple. But he shall

Learn there is torture to it! Set him forth.

[The spy is thrust forward.]

Tighten his bonds up till he moan.

[It is done.]

Aye, gasp,

Accursed Philistine! Now wilt thou tell

The plan and passion of thy people ’gainst us?

SPY

Baal!

SAUL

Tighten the torture more.… Now will you?

SPY [In agony.]

Yea!

SAUL

On, then, reveal.

SPY

New forces have arrived.

Numberless; more than peaks of Arabah.

[General movement of uneasiness.]

Unless before to-morrow’s moon one’s sent

To overthrow Goliath—Gods! the pain!

SAUL

Well?—Well?

SPY

Then Gibeah attacked, and all

Even to sucking babes be put to sword!

[A movement of horror.]

AHINOAM

All Gibeah!

A WOMAN

My little ones? No, no!

[She rushes frantically out.]

SAMUEL

Then, Saul of Gibeah, one thing and one

Alone is to be done. A champion,

To break this beetling giant down to death!

SAUL

There is none.

SAMUEL

Is none! Call! I order it.

SAUL

Then who will dare against him!

[A silence.]

See you now.

SAMUEL

You, Abner, will not?

ABNER

It were death and vain.

SAMUEL

Doeg, chief servant of the king?

DOEG

Why me?

Had I a mother out of Israel?

I am an alien, an Edomite.

DAVID

My lord, this is no more endurable!

Futile and death? Alien? Edomite?

Has not this Philistine before the gates

With insult and illimitable breath

Vaunting of vanity and smiting laughter

Boasted and braved and threatened up to Baal?

And now unless one slay him, Israel

From babe to age must bleed and be no more!

I am a shepherd, have but seized the lion

And throttled the bleating kid out of his throat;

Little it then beseems that I thrust in

Where battle captains pale and falter off;

But this is past all carp of rank or station.

One must go out—Goliath must have end.

DOEG

Ah, ah! andyouwill!

ISHUI

You?

JONATHAN

No, David!

SAUL

You?

DAVID

Sudden you hound about me ravenous?

Have I thrown doom not daring to your feet,

Ruler of Israel, that you rise wild,

Livid above me as an avalanche?

DOEG

A plot! it is a plot! He will be slain—

From you, my lord, dominion then will fall!

Or should it not …

SAMUEL

Liar; it is no plot.

But courage sprung seraphic out of night,

Beautiful and a bravery from God!

MICHAL [Behind the throng.]

Open, and let me enter! Open!

[She enters.]

Father,

It is not false? but now, the uttermost?

To-morrow, if Goliath still exult,

There’s peril of desolation, bloody ruin?

SAMUEL

I answer for him.

MICHAL

Then to your will,

Father, unto will of yesterday

I bend me now with sacrificial joy.

Unto Goliath’s slayer is the hand

Of Michal, the king’s daughter!

DAVID [Joyously]

Michal! Michal!

DOEG

See, see, my lord! Do you not understand?

ISHUI

It is another coiling of their plot!

MICHAL

Coiling of plot? What mean you?

MERAB

Ah? You know

Not it is David offers against Goliath?

MICHAL

David? [Shrinking] David?

[A low tumult is heard without. Enter a Captain hurriedly.]

CAPTAIN

O King, bid me to speak!

SAUL

Then speak!

CAPTAIN

Fear is upon the host. There will

Be mutiny unless, Goliath slain,

Courage spring up anew.

DAVID

My lord, then, choose!

Ere longer waiting fester to disaster.

SAMUEL

Yea, king of Gibeah, and bid him go,

And Michal for his meed! or evermore

Evil be on you and the sear of shame—

And haunting memory beyond the tomb!

SAUL

Then let him—let him. And upon the field

Of Ephes-Dammin. But I am not blind!

[ToAbner]

Let him, to morrow! Go, prepare the host.

Yet—I am king, remember! I am king!

[Saulgoes; there is a murmur of relief. All exceptMichalfollow, with various expressions of joy or hate towardDavid.]

DAVID

Michal!

[She looks at him; struggles against tears, and turning, goes.Davidstands gazing sadly after her. Then a trumpet sounds, and soldiers shouting exultantly without, throng to the porch.]

DAVID [Thrilled; his hand on his sling]

For Israel! For Israel!

[He goes, toward the soldiers.]

[CURTAIN.]

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